In using the word “Nothing” in the title of the article, I mean: nothing to fear above and beyond what we normally fear might result from the creation of any sort of gadget, be it a new invention or an old one. This is because we know that everything can be turned into a two-edged sword and used for a constructive or destructive purpose.
Viewing Artificial Intelligence (AI) in this light exonerates
it from being thought of solely as the possible source of danger, placing the
responsibility instead on the humans who will use it for good or for ill.
However, because gadgets are varied, each carries a different potential to
cause damage when used for that purpose. For example, a machinegun is more
lethal than a Swiss Knife. It is thus anticipated that when used to do damage,
AI has the potential to deliver serious blows.
There is also the possibility that damage will result
from the malfunction of a gadget. For example, people can be electrocuted using
a kitchen appliance. Some are killed in car accidents caused by the wearing
down or malfunction of the parts. Thus, no matter how many safeguards we
include in AI to prevent it from malfunctioning, or to have it shut itself down
when it malfunctions (operation known as Fail Safe,) AI will still have the
potential to malfunction and cause serious damage. But that’s expected.
All of that is known to everyone, but none of it generates
the trepidation that people feel when they think of AI despite the fact that we
can always pull the plug on it and shut it down for good if and when it gets
out of hand. What happens instead is that people think of a super intelligent
mass of wires and silicon chips which are capable of outsmarting the human mind,
and execute tasks that may or may not have been designed to serve humanity.
Indeed, of all the doomsday scenarios which are imagined
by philosophers and science fiction writers, nothing is more dreaded than to think
AI will someday subjugate the human race and rule the world if not the universe.
People feel that the super intelligent AI will eventually challenge our
supremacy, annihilate us and become master of all that exists. Well then my
dear reader, speaking seriously: Can something like this happen really?
When we examine what it will take for this to happen, we
become confident that such will never be possible. That’s because to go from
being a mass of inert wires and silicon chips, to develop a capacity that can overwhelm
and conquer our intelligence — AI will need to mollify several near-impossible
steps.
It is that in the same way, we include safety measures in
every gadget to protect human life, appropriate measures (collectively referred
to as Obligatory Dictate) will be included in AI to make certain it will not
harm human life — even act in such a way as to serve, protect and save human life.
That Dictate will be the first hurdle that AI must
overwhelm before it can develop a scheme by which to annihilate us on its way
to implementing its self-serving plans – if it will have any. Whether or not
this happens, however, there will have to be a battle royale pitting the human Obligatory
Directive against the AI desire to be free of human dominance.
Furthermore, to avoid letting human beings pull the plug
on it and shut it down, AI will also have to proceed with the implementation of
its plan in a clandestine way. To do this, it will have to develop the intent to deceive human beings.
Taking all this into consideration, we see that it all boils
down to AI having to develop the ability to self-program the trait of “Intent”
and that of “Deception,” both of which are human traits.
Thus, the question that comes to mind immediately: Could
this be our salvation? In other words, could it be that AI’s attempt to revolt
against our dominance will render it so much like us, a kinship will develop
between our two species, and an accommodation will be sought for both to
coexist side by side?
We, human beings, are the end product of a process that evolved
around rivalry. It is written in our DNA, and we still take it seriously as
individuals. To survive, we respond to the challenge posed by a rival more
readily than we do other challenges. AI is the newest challenge to catch our
attention, and we are responding to it guided by our instinct.
But we are also endowed with an electrochemical brain that
functions based on logic. And it is in this realm that an advanced notion for survival
is now developing to replace the old.
What’s coming out of there is the notion that it is
important for the species to survive as it was for the individual to survive at
the time. And this requires all individuals to cooperate together more than
compete against each other to advance the causes of all the species, thus
guarantee their survival.
If AI turns out to be as superior as we think it is, it
will see the wisdom of that new development, and will help us accelerate it.